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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

chopping wood

Made an adjustment to the rocket stove today. Removed the 2 bars that the pan was resting on and replaced them with 4 studs so the heat can come up and all around whatever is sitting on top. Broke out the table saw and ripped a bunch of cooking fuel from an old pallet. Only 3 or 4 pieces of what normally would just be kindling is now fuel for a hot meal. 62,74,57,0,B,.11

8 comments:

You might want to be careful about burning pallet wood especially for food consumption purposes, unless you are REALLY sure about the entire life history and manufacture of the pallets in question. Many pallets, particularly those made 3+ years ago are sometimes chemically treated with toxic chemicals which could be aerosolized and inhaled when burned. They are sometimes stamped to indicate such treatment, but I wouldn't want to risk my health on the off chance that Kilroy forgot his stamp at home that day.

PRESIDIO – A year ago, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials controversially sold a majority of the Texas Longhorn cattle herd that roamed wild through the Big Bend Ranch State Park (BBRSP).A large herd of Texas Longhorn are rounded up during an annual roundup. There will not be a roundup this year. (photo by EARL NOTTINGHAM/TPWD)

A large herd of Texas Longhorn are rounded up during an annual roundup. (photo by EARL NOTTINGHAM/TPWD)

The removal of the animals was primarily due to the drought that has choked the region for years, and the deterioration of the breed’s bloodline as feral and trespass livestock bred with the cattle.

The selling and planned removal spawned a legislative effort, H.B. 3037, authored by state Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson (R-Waco) to preserve the Longhorn, which has historical ties to the ranch.

“That herd has been on that land for centuries,” explained Anderson. “That breed was established with the ranch.”

The Longhorn on the ranch park, Anderson explained, are descendants from 30 heifers and three bull calves brought to North America by Spanish settler Gregorio de Villalobos in the 1500s. The herd then bred with Longhorn cattle in the 1860s, but really began to flourish nearly 100 years later when Robert Anderson, with whom the state representative has no relation, bought the land where the park currently stands and began to stock the property with registered Longhorns from the Wichita Mountain Refuge bloodline, which Anderson claims is the genetically pure Texas Longhorn breed.

Despite the cattle’s historical ties to the region, however, TPWD and BBRSP officials believe the bloodline has been compromised.

“Most [of the cattle in the park] are not the best representation of the Texas Longhorn,” said TPWD special assistant to the director Kevin Good. “We’ll be swapping with the official state herd from Fort Griffin. Those cattle have been managed to preserve the best characteristics. Over time, we want to move those to BBRSP and get rid of the current stock.”

“These aren’t unique, pure animals,” said BBRSP Superintendent Barrett Durst of the current stock. “They may not have quality pedigree.”

According to Durst, the park has also set aside about 3,000 acres, which will be fenced in, to hold the livestock imported from the state herd. The exhibition area, located at the Llano Pasture, currently pastures eight head of current-stock livestock, which will be replaced.

“It’s going to give visitors the opportunity to see the cattle,” he said. “Is it easier to spot one when they’re spread around 311,000 acres or in a 3,000-acre pasture?”

Relocating the cattle into one area for exhibition, Anderson said, is not an acceptable prospect.

“They’re going to take cattle from the official state herd, neuter them, and display them,” said Anderson. “It’s not the natural flora and fauna of the region. Now you have a zoo and the park doesn’t have the legitimate bloodline.”

Though Good would prefer to completely displace or sell the Longhorns currently living on the land, Durst claims that is not the case.

“We’ll be monitoring the wild population. Even if we did want to get rid of them, it would be near impossible because of the terrain. In some cases we’d have to airlift them. We don’t have the resources for that in funds or manpower. We are just trying to document the number and location of the Longhorn right now,” he said.

According to Anderson, whether the breed in the wild at the park will be taken off the property or not, the upkeep of the imported stock will prove to be far more costly than necessary. The native population, he says, is self-reliant and can survive without constant upkeep.

“The Longhorns have been doing fine without maintenance,” he said. “They’ve been doing better by themselves than the Bighorn Sheep they’ve reintroduced. They don’t really need for people to do anything for them, they’re just out there on their own.

You get a better heat transfer and an increased flue effect if the bottom of the cooking pot sits inside a collar which sits on top of the stove as in the RH pic here: http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/rocket-stove.jpg

If you're worried about fumes then you seal off the top of the collar with a metal 'hot-plate' and lead a flue out from the side and away.